Forgetful
by three-golden-mockingjays
Summary: Annie never forgets anything... except when Finnick's around. A one-shot on several moments between the two, from humour to tragedy. More Annie than Finnick, but that's just how it turned out. Give it a shot maybe?


Growing up, Annie was the smartest girl in her town. She had something of a photographic memory for spelling and all sorts of lessons, from how to tie all sorts of complex knots, to how to work out the area of any sort of shape. Annie never forgot anything.

* * *

The first time Annie forgot anything of note was when she was fourteen. She was at school, packing her things up at the end of class. She dropped her pencil case when her friend elbowed her hard in the ribs, and turned around to scowl at her, beginning to ask, "What was that for?" when she was distracted by her friend's excited gaze over her shoulder.

Annie turned around to see what Arielle was gaping at, and saw Finnick Odair directly in front of her. Finnick was pretty much the hottest boy any of them knew, and Annie was a bit stunned to see him there, smiling easily at her. Well, a bit stunned was an understatement.

"Hey, do you're in my Maths class, right?" She nodded, bemused. "And we've got that next period?" Annie nodded again, not really sure of what else to do. "Did we have any homework?" Finnick asked with his stunning green eyes looking pleading, and irresistible.

"Uh…" Annie racked her brains, but to no avail, "I actually have no idea."

* * *

Annie was the most nervous she had ever been in her life. More nervous than when she had to get a shot after stepping on a fish hook. More nervous than for all of her tests put together. More nervous than when her first piano concert, when she played in front of hundreds of people. More nervous than when her mother had gone into labour right in front of her, in the kitchen, and Annie had been the only one there, and had had to birth the baby all on her own, without any experience. And that was terrifying.

She ran a brush through her hair, completely panicked. She began to plait it, decided it looked awful that way and left it out, tucking a red flower into her hair as a last minute choice, accenting the darkness of her hair and the green of her eyes. She checked the time. In just seven minutes, she would be officially late for her first ever date. With Finnick freaking Odair. Just the biggest thing in her life at the moment. No big deal.

She adjusted her skirt and grabbed a sandal. Where was the other one? After a distressed search of the small house, she found it on the kitchen bench, what it was doing there she had no idea. She slipped both onto her feet.

Three minutes.

Annie tore out of the door, feet flying across the sandy path and onto the pier. She could see a silhouette on the end of pier. Finnick. She stopped running eventually, according to her watch she still had a minute, and wanted to look some degree of composed when she arrived. She felt her hair, which was messed up and fluffy all over again, after so much careful combing, and found the flower several centimetres from where it began. Finnick smiled at her when she arrived, her slightly dishevelled appearance not even seeming to register in his mind.

"Right on time Annie," he grinned, "You ready for a swim?"

Her heart dropped. How had she forgotten… "My bathers," Annie groaned.

"Forgotten?" Finnick didn't seem troubled at all, "Well take off your shoes, you're not getting out of swimming that easily."

"In this?" Annie seemed generally shocked, looking down at her batherless self.

"Well, probably not the skirt," Finnick said matter-of-factly, "It looks expensive."

She gaped at him for a little longer, and he shrugged in his easy, confidence filled way, "Suit yourself," and dove into the water with the tiniest splash. After Finnick's grinning head broke through the water, Annie began to beam, and slipped out of her skirt easily, diving in after Finnick. Maybe it wasn't such a disaster after all.

* * *

"You've got one minute," the peacekeeper said sternly to Annie as he let her in. In any other case, she would have been intimidated by his muscles, uniform, and most of all shiny black gun that he carried in one hand, but hardly glanced his way and she pushed into the small room where her boyfriend of only a month sat, looking only vaguely shocked. She somehow did the impossible, embracing the muscular boy in her tiny arms, and began to whimper into his shoulder. He hugged her back for just a moment, before pulling away enough to look into her eyes, "Be brave Annie. Keep believing. I'll be home."

There were several things she wanted to say, "I know you will," "You have to win," "I'll miss you," "I love you," but she was incapable of saying anything. The invincible Annie had forgotten how to talk.

* * *

"What do you most look forward to doing once you return home Annie?" Caesar Flickerman asked gently, hoping not to upset the emotionally fragile, brand new victor. Annie looked at him with frightened eyes. She was a deer caught in the headlights, and for a moment, she forgot that she had won the games, forgot she had escaped the arena.

"Please don't hurt me," she whimpered, "I don't have a chance anyway."

Caesar looked at her, confused, "Annie, are you alright?" he reached out to touch her knee in a comforting gesture, but through Annie's bloodstained eyes, that wasn't what she saw. She saw an attack, a hand desperate to end her life and to live another day, and hand grasping a cruel steel blade…

Annie screamed a haunting scream, and on national television, people were gaping at the insane sight. All over Panem they watched Annie run off the stage screaming, and heard the screams continue from backstage, then heard silence. Behind the scenes, where they could not see, Annie's mentor and lover, Finnick Odair, was holding her tight in his arms, and Annie remembered her surroundings once more.

* * *

Finnick twirled his bride around, and the sea-green dress swished around Annie's feet. Everything was perfect, Finnick was back, she survived, he survived, nothing that had been thrown at them had succeeded in destroying them. They were together, and today they were married. Annie gleefully thought that the Capitol couldn't touch them now. They were happy, and there was nothing they could do about it.

She forgot about the war, and the nightmares and the games. She forgot about the torture, and the rape, and every tear she had ever shed.

Today she was married, and today she was happy. For a few blissful hours, from the evening far into the night, Annie forgot what it felt like to feel anything but happiness.

Forgetfulness is bliss.

* * *

After Finnick died, Annie didn't once wish to forget him. The memories of Finnick hurt, but it was a hurt that Annie couldn't live with out. Sweet suffering was her drug, and Finnick the flame in her heart.

In fact, she became so scared of ever forgetting Finnick that some nights she cried just at the thought.

Somehow, it was as though Finnick, from up in heaven or wherever he was, knew this. Annie was blessed, and cursed, with a baby. A baby boy, just like Finnick in almost every respect. For nine months Annie carried a little Finnick in her womb. For years afterwards, Annie held a little Finnick close to her heart, raising him to the best of her abilities.

Things were hard, and there were days where everything hurt, but in the end, so long as Finnick lived in the two oddities, the 'insane' mother and young child, cursed and blessed with his father's likeness, everything would be alright. Just so long as she didn't forget.

Because as far as Annie figured, while there were some exceptions, she could hardly be called forgetful.

* * *

**I'm in rather Annie-ish mood tonight, so there's my second Annie one-shot for the past hour. This one is much longer, and I think I like it a lot more, but it's not really my opinion that matters, ITS YOURS! That is an extraordinarily unsubtle hint saying REVIEW IF YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY! Sorry, I'm awfully desperate, aren't I? Well 'Won't Go Home Without You,' just came on on my iPod, so I will go cry over that while you so something productive with your life. Thanks for reading :) -L**


End file.
